Phosphonates play a significant role in the fields of chemistry, biology and medicine. They are endowed with special physical, chemical and biological properties which can make them uniquely useful. Various uses of phosphonate compounds include the design of novel metal chelators and biologically active compounds. For example, phosphonates have been used as inhibitors of enzymes which catalyze reactions of carboxylates or phosphates.
Due to their widespread applications, considerable activity has been devoted to developing convenient methods for synthesis of phosphonates or related compounds. Monomeric metaphosphate, for example, has been investigated as a highly reactive, electrophilic phosphorylation intermediate. Recently, investigations have emphasized the desirability of designing new precursors that can function as phosphorylating agents under physiological or other mild conditions.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need to discover novel phosphonates or related compounds, and methods for synthesizing them in a simple, rapid, efficient manner with high yields. Further, it would be advantageous to have these compounds because they have widespread applications.